Party People
by reraimu
Summary: Alec Lightwood is your average mundane, until he stumbles through a certain Warlock's intricately constructed glamour. SLASH. Malec. AU.
1. Prologue

**Title: Do You See What I See?  
**

**Pairing:** Malec (Magnus/Alec)

**Rated:** T (will change to M in much later chapters) Sorry, I like to draw the heavy romance out).

**Genre:** Romance/Adventure/Angst/Supernatural

**Complete Summary:** Alec Lightwood is your average run-of-the-mill Mundane, that is, until he accidentally stumbles through a certain Warlock's intricately constructed glamour. In a world where magical creatures are of myth and legend and wholly non-existent, The High Warlock of Brooklyn must act quickly in order to eradicate the threat: Alec, the first Mundane in nearly 250 years to have the Sight. However, neither of them intended to get sidetracked. An AU Mundane!Alec Malec fic!

**A/N:** I'm VERY NEW in writing for this fandom, even though I've been following MI since the first year it was published.

This is my first Malec fic, let alone my first MI fic—be gentle with me. I'm so excited because I'm actually writing for AN EFFING CANON PAIRING. WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN—usually I have to slash my characters and ruin the series for other people (like HTTYD for instance –facepalm-).

I'm so happy. Anyway, please enjoy my little contribution to the Malec universe.

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Prologue

"_Bane._"

There was an audible warble that filtered through the speaker, digitized and clipped and entirely irritating. A muffled sigh resounded from the lanky figure flanked about a wine colored couch, tapping the pads of his spindly fingers along the plush material, before raising himself and languidly strolling towards the buzzer. He pressed a willowy digit to the contraption.

"I'm not taking any calls. Leave." The voice was lucid and crisp, yet sporting a sultry undertone. A measurable silence spanned, and the figure within the flat flanked away from the speaker, an irritated hunch to his shoulders.

"_It's me_," the buzzer chortled, the voice fading in and out through the speaker. "_Let me up."_

"Me? Who's me? Being vague isn't a quality I take to."

A sigh emitted from the buzzer, along with a staticy mess of noise before the ringer was breached yet again. "_Lans._"

"Oh, then why didn't you say so, honey? Is it time already?"

"_Do you have to say it like that?"_

Lans backed away from the buzzer when he heard a perceptible click resonate from the door beside him. Placing a hand to the brass door handle, he gently tugged it open and stepped inside. He looked about him, scanning the base of the premise before trailing violet-colored eyes up the looming staircase. Some things were familiar, like the lavishly decorated walls that sported a generous amount of abstract paintings and questionable looking artifacts, but there were some things that were different compared to the last time he was here. For one, the staircase hadn't been that tall, and two, there was a window situated along the corridor that peered out into the streets below, when it should have been physically impossible for it to do so. For all he knew, there were only rooms behind those walls, not the world outside.

Of course, he had forgotten whose flat he was in.

Before clambering up the staircase, Lans tensed his shoulders and tugged at the recesses of his thoughts, kneading and pulling at the malleable bits of magic concealing him. In an instant, the neatly styled tufts of blond hair he'd been sporting were gone, replaced with willowy wisps of aquamarine strands. There were also other parts of his body that morphed with the stripping of his glamour, such as his eyes, skin, fingers, back and other prohibited places, but doting on them would take too much of his time, not to mention the precious time of his host upstairs. Sprouting a pair of iridescent wings, vein-strewn and gleaming in different shades of color, Lans soared up the staircase.


	2. The Sneak

Chapter 1

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"Isabelle, what are we doing here?"

A tall, slender girl with ebony hair trailing down her backside quickly crossed her arms over her chest, tugging her fur-lined coat close around her frame. Tufts of white mist ghosted from her mouth as she breathed, cheeks tinged a rosy red. She smiled wryly and glared at her brother, rolling her gleaming eyes as she turned away with a slight shrug to her shoulders.

"Come on Alec, loosen up," she chirped, anchoring her gaze on the bouncer a little ways away from them. He was a lofty, brawny man dressed in an exclusive looking suit, meaty hands clasped in front of him. As he checked off each person entering the venue, the door leading inside momentarily flared open, illuminating the sights and sounds of the club within. Pounding electronic beats and vibrant flashes of neon light filtered into the night air and thrummed through the throng of anxious teenagers waiting their turn to enter, Isabelle and Alec Lightwood included.

The latter in question turned his head and stared superficially at his sister, his brow furrowed and an awkward grimace marring his features. He brushed the black shaggy fringe of his hair away from his forehead, tucking the unruly strands behind his ears. He then placed his freezing hands inside the temperate confines of his jacket pockets, relief momentarily washing over him as the pads of his fingers grew accustomed to the abrupt change in temperature. He hadn't bothered bringing a more heavier set of attire and had opted wearing a faded black sweater-jacket and a pair of scraggly denim jeans—he was sure kicking himself for it now.

"Izzy, it's freezing and I'm cold and I just wanna' go home," Alec griped, a brief shudder rippling through his body. He turned to his sister, shooting her a deft glare. "You know I don't like this sort of stuff."

He watched his sister brush a slim finger through her hair, swishing a few strands over her shoulders. She smiled again at him, biting at her lip. "Look, Alec, I know you usually don't mesh well with this kind of scene, but- ."

"—I never have," Alec quickly interjected her. She rolled her eyes again.

"As I was saying," she continued, crossing her lithe arms over her chest. "Can't you just grin and bear it for tonight, please?"

Alec grit his teeth, a list of excuses flashing across his mind. "What about Max?"

Isabelle pursed her lips. "What about him?"

"He'll be all…lonely?" Alec kicked himself for sounding so tentative. Isabelle sent a curt glare at her brother, irritation licking at the recesses of her thoughts.

"Mom and dad are there, retard," she stated matter-of-factly. "And he's got the computer to himself—it's enough to last him for eternity, what with all that Japanese shit he always reads."

"Why couldn't you just call Clary or something, she'd love to go," Alec stated bitterly, avoiding Isabelle's gaze. He wasn't at all pleased with his performance at trying to get Isabelle to let him off the hook; he was doing a rather poor job at it, but that was purely because he was never really good at the art of persuasion to begin with, let alone conversation.

"I did ask her, you know that, but she had a date with Jace—oh! Oh…I'm sorry Alec, I forgot- ."

"Whatever," Alec quickly barked, turning his body away from her. He could practically feel the remorse settling on her gaze, her eyes roaming over him in sympathy—he didn't need her pity, not from her. He wasn't as pathetic as everyone thought he was. Just because he wasn't exactly on speaking terms with Jace, didn't mean he was going to spontaneously combust. Sure, whenever said boy's name was brought into light, Alec couldn't help but feel his heart sink, tasting an unpleasant acrid taste in his mouth, but people didn't need to know that- or coddle him with the pity-card. He felt a slight nudge at his shoulder and craned his head, peering at Isabelle from the corner of his eye.

"Come on, bro," she pleaded, her voice softening. "Just for tonight, let yourself have fun. Don't think, just do. Besides, you can meet some hot guys while you're at it."

Alec blanched. He never expected to her to bring the subject up, but giving that this was Isabelle (always the impulsive one) he shouldn't have been so surprised. He disregarded the fact that he had recently stepped out of the closet and was still novel to the whole "gay" scene, but it didn't mean that he was roaring to score with a bunch of random people. He was not like his sister, the resident party girl. No, he was definitely not like his sister, and that he esteemed himself for.

Isabelle could hear her brother snort to himself and could imagine him rolling his eyes at her, but in that gesture alone, she knew she had won her brother over for the night. She wouldn't dissuade the notion of her inviting him tonight because her friends had bailed on her, but she had also invited him for an entirely different reason. She cared for him, and the recent scuffle pertaining to both Alec and one Jace Valentine had her concerned for her brother's well being. Since the dispute a little over a month ago, she could only watch as her brother moped about the apartment, evading questions from both her and their parents. Alec hadn't always been the most social one in their family, for he never really cared for parties and various communal gatherings fervently sought by most teenagers of their generation, but for the past month Isabelle thought Alec was noticeably overdoing it. Disregarding that her brother never really went out in the first place, he had taken to spending all his time cooped up in his room, only leaving his safe-haven for the usual necessities, such as bathroom breaks and snatching quick bites to eat, before holing himself up again.

Isabelle smiled.

"Thanks, Alec," she whispered. He didn't hear her.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They were inside now.

And Alec felt like he was going to crash and possibly burn- or explode, same difference. His eardrums were practically vibrating with the music that pounded into his ears mercilessly, vibrations shooting up through his body from the soles of his shoes. His head was throbbing in what appeared to be the stirrings of a headache and his eyes couldn't focus on their intended target, predictably the solace of his sister. Shortly after they had been let in, they were hastily consumed by the crowd, drowned in a sea of bodies thrashing and twisting along with the rhythm. Before he knew it, he had lost Isabelle completely and found himself being shoved every which way, elbows jabbing into his sides while he received the occasional unintentional slap upside the head. He was quickly growing angry with Isabelle for inviting him to this mosh-fest, and angry with himself for even accepting.

By the time he reached the thinning edge of the crowd, he propped himself up against a nearby wall, his breathing ragged and haggard. He was so disorientated that his eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head as he stood spellbound by the rapid movements of the strobe lights clipping about the warehouse, spitting out a various array of colors that fanned about the crowd like a rainbow.

"What the hell…does she see in this stuff?" he whispered, his voice strangely clipped and exasperated.

"What the hell don't _**you**_ see?"

Alec quickly snapped his head at the voice and frowned when his gaze anchored on a scrawny looking teen leaning against the wall a little ways away from him. He looked like a shady character, decorated with tons upon tons of neon bracelets and necklaces, and strangely, donning attire that literally glowed. Alec flushed when the teen chuckled at him and moved away, disappearing into the swarm of dancing people. Alec grazed his eyes over the thrashing crowd, repugnance marring his features. It looked disgusting, this primal form of dancing, watching as slick, wet bodies pressed together and writhed amongst one another. He felt like vomiting the contents of his previous meal, if his own ragged breathing hadn't distracted him. His breaths were coming up short and clipped, his chest felt as if it were tightening and he felt entirely too warm. All Alec wanted to do was break away from these people- damn Isabelle; he'd just let her worry over him until she called or text him, but even then he wasn't sure if he would respond or not, he was far too incensed.

He finally decided the only way he was going to leave this place was from the way he came, and so, with a lungful of air and fortitude flickering in his mind, Alec peeled himself from the save-haven of the wall and pushed his way through the horde of writhing people. It wasn't so bad this time, maneuvering his way through them, and even though it was still quite painful (kicks to the shins here, jabs to the neck there), he finally found himself before the entryway.

He had never in his life felt so free and liberated than the moment he stepped through those double doors. He was outside now, the frosty bite of the air invigorating compared to the stifling atmosphere of the club. He let the chill seep into his cheeks and ghost down the length of his neck, reveling in the frigid cold, before the arctic temperature got the best of him and he was forced to stuff his hands into his sweater pockets. The line was non-existent now, he noted, but the bouncer was still guarding the door, seemingly immune to the cold. And now with no sister in sight, Alec was at a loss for what to do. Where should he go from here on out? He didn't have a lot of money on him, a measly 25 bucks at best, and he wasn't exactly dressed to face the biting cold of Brooklyn.

'_I'm not even familiar with Brooklyn_,' he admitted to himself, shaking his head. He began walking in no direction in particular, his steps measured and careful. It was true; he wasn't even remotely familiar with these parts. In fact, this was only the second time he had stepped foot into this part of New York, the first time having been with his parents. He, along with his sister and little brother Max, was born and raised in Manhattan, and though his sister was well versed with the bustling cities of New York, Alec was not—not like he cared anyway. He didn't mind being the social pariah of the family.

He really didn't.

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As seconds turned into minutes, Alec found himself walking leisurely through the bustling streets of downtown Brooklyn despite the time of hour. Tantalizing women sauntered about the sidewalks, promising a good time with merely a simple wink of their long-lashed eyes and a sultry smirk of the lips. If Alec had been attracted to the opposite sex, he would have used the last of his money to find paradise, but thankfully he was only attracted to the same gender—did that make it any better? It was nearly close to midnight and Alec realized with much irritation that an hour had passed since his escape. Why hadn't Isabelle bothered to call him, surely she would have noticed his absence, and even if she didn't she could have texted him and asked for his whereabouts. He was one to talk though; she was probably being too stubborn and waiting for _**his**_ call. He wasn't going to go through with calling her anyway- he was always the one worrying and fretting over trivial things; he could do without that burden for just this once, couldn't he?

"Looking for a good time, honey?" a velvety voice crooned from beside him. Alec jumped at the sudden voice and scuttled away, chastising himself for not being more aware of his surroundings. He halted in his tracks and turned around, eyeing a long-legged woman who was casually leaning against a brick wall. She had a cigarette in one hand, wisps of smoke trailing from her puckered lips while she clasped a small golden handbag to her hip. She blinked her lashes, fake ones lined with tiny rhinestones, and smiled at him.

"Um, n-no," Alec stuttered. '_No._'

"You sure?" she prodded, baring a pale, slender leg. Alec was repulsed, truly he was, but he couldn't let her know that. To contrary belief, sometimes he liked opting out of his usual insolence. It wouldn't be wise to pick a fight in unfamiliar territory anyway.

"No, it's okay," he stated courteously, before motioning away. He heard her mutter, "suit yourself" before hearing the clips of her heels as she trotted off. Reprieve clouding over him, Alec continued his aimless trek across the streets of Brooklyn, fear lapping at his heels whenever he'd venture into a particular shady part of town. He made minimum eye contact and walked briskly while making himself look as inconspicuous as possible. There was always a plus to dressing plain, he surmised—nobody bothered to notice you.

Thankfully, the bustling nightlife of the city provided an absence of deserted streets, to which Alec was exceptionally grateful for. With more people milling about the sidewalks, Alec didn't have to constantly remain on a constant precipice of fear and managed to stray away from any open or deserted areas, that is, until he came upon a prominent looking building. He didn't know what made him halt in his tracks and stare across the street at the looming building, an old-fashioned bricked structure withering with age and clearly abandoned, but there was something off about it, something that tugged at the edge of his attentiveness.

'_God, not again,_' Alec berated himself, muttering a few choice curse words. He couldn't exactly explain the feeling or the images that often came with it, but it'd been happening ever since he was a child. It was an awkward sensation that would pull at his senses, as if adjusting his vision. He could remember stopping to stare at things, longer than any average child would. They were everyday commonplace things, like people for instance that would flicker and clip, much like a buffering online video, before the image would reveal something unsettling, something different. The occurrences were rare, but often happened when he was in an area surrounded by a multitude of different objects and people. Sometimes what he saw startled him. For example, if he were in a bustling crowd of Manhattan city dwellers, Alec could pick out the few people whose images would appear to flicker and reveal something…inhuman. He couldn't describe them any other way. They were creatures, never the same, and in the next instant they were human again, seemingly average and ordinary and at no cause for alarm.

And it didn't just pertain to people either. One time while strolling through a local park, he had stumbled into a subdued clearing covered by thickets of bushes and gangling trees. The place made him feel anxious, as if warding him away, but he could see the clearing flicker and reveal an entirely different place. The image was blurred and only snippets of it caught at him before everything returned to normal. He had never bothered telling his parents about his little quandary, for they wouldn't have believed him anyway, and his sister Isabelle always dismissed it as having a closet overactive imagination, but surprisingly the only one who did believe him was his brother Max, which wasn't all that comforting.

Alec continued to stare across at the structure, not at all the tallest building on the block, but still lofty enough to dwarf any others that fell short in height. He continued to gaze at it, confiding in the sensation tugging at his insides, but he couldn't see anything substantial, no familiar flicker or waver that usually harbored the thwarting feeling. He stood there, arms pressed firmly at his sides, fingers curling into his palms while his fingernails gouged into his skin. He knew no matter how long he stared, he couldn't just will it to happen, and right when he was going to give up and walk away, the building flickered.

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A/N: thank you for reading! review please.


	3. Glitter

Chapter 2

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"Darn it," Alec breathed, inhaling a sharp intake of cold hair. Even though he had been waiting for something to happen, to actually have it happen unnerved him. In the past, he neither had the time nor privacy to explore these occurrences. "No, I'm not gonna' be one of those idiots who ventures off alone." And really, it wasn't a very good idea to begin with. Unfortunately the street he was currently in wasn't as teeming with pedestrians as the others he had milled through, and the abandoned building didn't look exactly welcoming. The main double doors were nearly rotting of their hinges, decaying wood punctured in some places, while rows upon rows of windows lay splintered and broken. It didn't look remotely safe.

He continued to stare at the flickering building and he noticed that the building itself wasn't wavering, for he would have seen something beyond it, whether it was a vacant space or something entirely different—no, the actual structure wasn't the one flickering, it was the atmosphere. And in the blink of an eye he could hear it. It was low at first, a residual pounding that slowly morphed into a vibration, and then miraculously the vibrations thrummed into a series of notes and beats: music. The music continued to grow louder and louder, until Alec's eyes were practically watering at its sheer volume. The music slammed at his eardrums, so much more painful than back at the club—he felt like his brain had caught fire.

Alec was at a loss for words. This music, this horribly loud music filled to the brim with electronic beats and riffing bass lines, was coming from that abandoned brick of a building? He looked about him, noticing that the few people spotting the streets didn't seem to notice the music at all. It was so damn loud, how could they not notice it?

Alec pressed his fingers into his ears, desperately trying to quell the music and keep it from shattering his eardrums. He looked wildly around him, noticing the few awkward stares random passerby threw at him, but they could have gone soaring over his head for all he cared. He wrenched open his eyes, his heart palpitating at an unruly speed as blood rushed to meet his heart, and then he tensed. The building, still towering above the rest, was still flickering in and out, clipping along with the pulsating beats of the music, until he could finally see it.

Whatever the heck he was seeing.

As if someone was removing a blindfold from his eyes, his vision blurred and adjusted, and one by one he could see the lights in the building flicker on until they reached all the way up the 5th floor. What he saw next was just a jumble of things; so many of them that he couldn't possibly list them all. Some of the windows that weren't shattered were wrenched open, spilling out a froth of glitter that twinkled and twirled about the air like a sea of stars. The glitter was like a mist really, but unlike a fine mist, the glitter didn't dissolve into the air or float away—it merely remained suspended there, twinkling about the night sky. Even from where he was standing across the street, a jumble of exotic scents reached his nose. It was difficult for him to decipher between the aromas, but they weren't unpleasant, at least most of them. He could smell something sweet and tangy, like a type of citrus that enveloped an array of other spicy aromatic smells. He concluded that the scent was mostly sweet smelling, a bit heady, but sweet nonetheless.

He gaped at the building that looked teeming with life, when but a second ago it had been anything but. Alec still looked about him, wondering if anyone else was gaping along with him, but as he stared at the faces that passed him by he couldn't single out anyone with astonishment across their features.

So really, was he the only was seeing this?

Alec let out a horrific gasp and nearly tripped over his own feet, sending him stumbling about the pavement before he righted himself. He could see them now, the creatures he often caught glimpses of when his vision would warp. A bewildering sense of dread and terror frothed at the pit of his belly, churning his insides until his limbs started aching. They were tiny little things, small creatures with gossamer wings floating about the building, occasionally soaring through splintered windows and winding their way up over the occasional streetlight, before they turned round and headed back inside. He could also see shadows moving within, but much to his chagrin he wasn't close enough to discern any figures.

However, there were two forms lounging about the building's stoop. They were awfully close, Alec thought, and as he peered forward, he bit at his lip when he realized that the pair embracing each other were anything but ordinary. One had a spindly tail, he noted, that was coiled around its partner's…wings? The creature with the tail, tinted a dusty pink in skin tone, had its clawed fingers grasped firmly at the sides of the winged creature, almost tearing into the other's skin. It nipped and licked a sinewy trail of saliva along the length of the winged-one's neck, before withdrawing and sniffing the air. For a moment, Alec thought it was going to turn and stare at him, but the pink creature merely stilled for a millisecond before returning to other intimate details.

'_This is freaking crazy,_' Alec thought frantically, his fingers fiddling with the hem of his jacket. There was a damn party in there, with a freaking bunch of creatures swarming inside! Why was he the only one seeing this? Alec tugged hysterically at the ends of his hair, blue eyes darting from the building back down to his feet. He was so close now, so close to finding out what the hell he'd been seeing for the better half of his life, yet he was too scared to do anything—and for once, he had all the time in the world to investigate. It felt as if someone had glued his feet to the ground, rendering him still and immobile, even though he felt anything but. He could imagine himself trotting over there, crouching behind trashcans and scaling over support pillars until he wound his way inside; and even though he detested parties, he wasn't going to sit out on this one, not when there were weird little creatures flying around and glitter hanging in the air.

'_This is not your typical run-of-the-mill party,_' Alec thought grimly, eyes steeling over. Before curiosity got the best of him, he managed to get a grip of himself and started sorting out the pros and cons to his impending exploration. What would happen to him if he went over there? Obviously there was something concealing the building from the public eye, but the question was, why was he only able to see it? Disregarding that tidbit of information, Alec wondered what the hell those creatures were and how many more of them were inside. Were they monsters of some sort, or mythical beings that roamed about the night unseen? Or was he on some kind of drug-trip?

'_Maybe someone slipped me a shot or something back at the club_,' he thought to himself, but he quickly ruled out the possibility on account that he had retained most of his sanity on his trip over here…until he lost it all by staring at that damned building. Alec mussed a trembling hand through his air, shivering as the cold blanketed over him. He didn't know what to do, was at a loss to a decision, until he began to truly think about the situation. Whatever was over there could possibly be a once in a lifetime opportunity, or some magical realm waiting to be plundered. Whatever the heck it was, Alec knew that this was going to be one monumental discovery in one way or another, and he for one was _**not**_ going to miss out on it.

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A/N: thanks for reading! Please review!

On another note, Alec will not be cussing in this fic. You know how Alec says the most cheesiest Shadowhunter phrases such as "BY THE ANGEL!"? Since he's a human in this fic, he'll be saying shit like "Holy Geez!" or "What the heck?"

Pfft.


	4. Sneaky Sneaky

**Chapter 3**

Alec jammed his hands into his pockets, teeth chattering amidst the cold drop of temperature, before shifting his eyes from side to side. He checked the traffic on the street, which was minimal, and finally took a lungful of breath. He then quickly gathered his wits about him and dashed across the street, sneakers pounding against the asphalt as he left his uncertainties behind him.

Stepping onto the sidewalk, Alec managed to compose himself by squaring his shoulders and lifting his head, trying in vain to fan away the flames of apprehension that were starting to lick away at his resolve. He quickly scuffled towards a nearby trashcan, crouching low beside it as he tried to think up of what he was going to do next. He could see the two figures closer now; grimacing at the amount of detail he laid witness too. The pink one, the one with the tail, was tall and lanky and Alec was finding it difficult trying to determine its gender. It didn't have any breasts, that he was sure of, but what baffled him was that the thing didn't have any genitalia whatsoever. The winged-creature he could tell was obviously a girl, since it was sporting a pair of breasts tucked behind a flimsy mesh tank top, and Alec couldn't help but flush.

'_That's still crazy,_' he thought to himself, adrenaline shooting from the tips of his fingers and trailing up the length of his arms. He was starting to shake as he stared up at the looming structure beside him—the music was even louder here. Forming his fingers into fists, Alec cautiously lifted himself from the ground and stood rigid, taking deep breaths in means of calming himself. The creatures didn't seem to notice him at all though he was standing but a few feet away from them; surely they would have noticed him by now or at least saw him running across the street?

"That's kind of weird," he whispered, fingering the outline of his cell phone and switchblade through his jean pocket (he armed himself with the blade when Isabelle had told him the club was located in Brooklyn). Alec took another calculated breath, just for the sake of soothing his nerves, and carefully took a step forward. He nearly jumped out of his skin when his foot trampled across a lone soda can, his heel crunching into the withered aluminum. Alec tepidly raised his head, expecting the worst, but as he settled his quivering gaze on the couple still sucking face, he found that they hadn't paid him any attention at all—it was as if he were invisible. He raised an eyebrow at the thought. Taking another wary step forward, Alec mustered up the last of his courage and began walking at a steady, fixed pace. The building drew nearer still, so close that all he had to do was stick out his arm and touch the stoop's presiding banister, but he was still too frightened to try anything. If this was some sort of wild party, then surely no one would mind if he decided to crash it; that's how most parties worked anyway, less they were privately exclusive. Usually invitations weren't needed for public functions, especially rowdy ones, and Alec was fairly certain that the party currently taking place fit the latter description.

Alec shimmied his way behind a nearby support pillar, peering around the bricked mass. The two creatures were still there, as close as ever, and he was starting to think that maybe he was invisible after all. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Alec stepped out from the security of the pillar. He took tentative steps towards them, arms pressed to his sides. He couldn't believe they hadn't whirled around and caught him yet. Could they really not see him? And then, when he took that final step, placing the palm of his hand upon the concrete banister attached to the stoop, everything seemed to dissolve. It was like being sucked into a vacuum. The atmosphere around him was starting to disband and pull away, stretching and twisting about him until everything seemed to impede, and when he finally opened his eyes and raised his head, two pairs of eyes were glaring at him.

"Agh!" Alec gasped, slamming his back into the concrete banister. He let out a muffled sound, his spine tingling, before he managed to get a grip on himself.

"What's he doing here, Bane doesn't allow Mundies, right?" The winged-creature spoke, her voice sinisterly sweet. She drew away from her partner, blinking her large insect-shaped eyes. They were black and glossy, as if a thick membrane coated the outer lining of her eyeball. They were really unsettling, Alec thought to himself, especially when she blinked. The pink creature peered over its shoulder, serrated teeth exposed as the corner of its lips lifted into a disturbing smirk.

"I thought I smelled something," it—he spoke in a low, garbled voice. "And you're absolutely right." The creature withdrew from its partner, leering red eyes narrowing as the chilling smile crept further along his face. Alec heard the female chuckle.

"Well then, let's not be rude," she spoke, her tone feather-light and practically dripping with mock charm. She trailed a clawed fingernail down the length of her partner's back—he shuddered, his gaze never leaving Alec. "Let him enjoy the party."

"W-what, no, no really!" Alec started, clumsily backing away. He brought his hands out in front of him as a gesture of peace, however, judging the looks on the creatures' faces, his attempts at achieving an acceptable calm failed dismally. In a momentum of speed that nearly knocked Alec off his feet, the winged-female zapped over to him, landing softly beside his prone form. She grinned wryly, cocking her head to the side, purple dreadlocks brushing across her collarbone. Alec was nearly trailing over the ledge of the banister, the palms of his hands pasted firmly to the concrete. His chest was heaving as he tried to take in composed, deliberate breaths, wisps of cold air puffing out his lips. These things—these beasts, or whatever they were, terrified him. All he wanted to do was turn around and sprint back to the club and take solace in his sister's presence, no matter how livid he had been with her earlier. He needed a familiar face, an ordinary, customary looking face, unlike the ones that were currently glaring daggers at him all the while sporting wicked smiles.

"You crash the party, you enjoy the party," she hissed, flanking out a notched pink tongue. She outstretched a wiry forearm and pointed a clawed finger at the building's entrance. "In there, little Mundy."

Alec nodded quickly at her, before clambering up the steps two at a time and stumbling gawkily into the building's entrance. He could hear the two cackling behind him, their voices entwining together to produce a wiry, uneven sound. It was a very unpleasant thing to hear.

Alec blearily looked about him, his fingers fiddling with the hem of his jacket. The music was practically encasing him now, blanketing him with a substantial layer of stupefaction. As he settled his vision, he noticed that he had stepped into some sort of drawing room, a small one. The room was dreary and drab, sort of miserable actually, at least that was the vibe Alec felt. There were mirrors decorated about the walls, but most of them were punched in and splintered much like the building's windows, and the wallpaper was worse for wear—it was cracking and peeling and hanging down in shredded beige tendrils. Alec looked ahead of him towards the center of the tiny apartment and spotted a set of rickety double doors, the wood decaying with age. There were a few sunspots about the doors, most likely caused by termites, and he could see tiny rays of light streaming in from behind them.

So, the party was behind those doors then.

Alec peered over his shoulder and noticed with a tinge of fear that the creature with the tail was still staring at him, red eyes thrumming with malice, and all the while nipping at his partner's neck. Alec, unnerved, quickly looked away, and instead anchored his gaze on the doors. He tensed his shoulders and lifted his head, pressing his arms to his sides. Since he couldn't leave, not with those two things out there, he would have to mingle in with the crowd. A then a horrifying thought jarred him.

'_If those things out there look like __**that**__, how are the rest of them gonna' look like?_' he questioned himself, panic bubbling at the pit of his stomach. He could feel his legs lock again, like they had when he was still across the street, and a horrible numbness quickly spread throughout his limbs. Alec knew that there were certainly a multitude of creatures beyond those doors, horrifying things if he could recall correctly. The visions he had glimpsed at when he was younger still terrified him to this day, which is why he tried his best to be practical in certain imaginative situations. Like Jace for instance—Alec wasn't counting on his "gay" debut to take a turn for the worst, or better, Alec didn't even know. Jace was still angry with Alec for not telling him sooner, which surprised Alec most of all. He was expecting his straight-as-a-needle friend (and crush) to yell and insult him, cursing the homosexual ground he walked on—not for doubting their friendship—Alec had reeled at that. Jace had been surprised, not disgusted, when he found out Alec was gay, and even more angrier when he found out Alec had been keeping it a secret for nearly four years. Isabelle, after having a private talk with Jace, later told Alec that Jace was upset because Alec hadn't trusted him enough to share such a personal matter with him.

'_How could I though? I haven't even told anyone else besides Isabelle!_' Alec had thought.

He frowned.

Returning to the present, Alec shook his head from his brief lapse into the past and instead focused his mind on the situation at hand. He braced himself for the imminent unfamiliarity he was about to face, steadied his mind so he wouldn't accidentally freak out and fan too much attention to himself—he didn't need it, no, not when he was about to crash a party intended for what seemed to be demons. And right when he was about to take a hurried step forward, he was grasped from behind. Claws dug into his shoulders as he was nearly hoisted off the ground, legs flailing in the air. He shot a frightened glimpse over his shoulder and found that the couple from outside had sneaked into the small apartment while his back was turned, and were now holding him up by the arms.

And then, the double doors slammed open.

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**So sorry for the long wait, but there it is! Please review if you can! :3**


	5. Dance

**Tweekerz Says:**

**- I have no excuse for not updating this. /:  
- I recently discovered the note application on my phone, so I wrote this entire chapter on my cell.**

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_"I've got the magic in me._" - **B.O.B ft. Rivers Cuomo, Magic.**

It was like a cannon ball setting off. The sound of the double doors cracking against the wall was deafening, even over the loud thrum of music.

The inside of the room was wide and spacious, the size of a small gym, and covered inch by square inch in shimmering, writhing bodies that danced to the beat of the music. Some of the windows were draped with long dark curtains that trailed along the floor, and some were free from any coverings, though the glass was frosted over in a thick layer of glitter and mist, as if hiding the world outside. Black candles decked the walls and held fast in their stands, globs of melted wax dripping down the cheap floral wallpaper. The meager light the candles provided wasn't enough to illuminate the entire room, and instead doused the dance floor in a layer of gloom and grit, a sort of hazy fog.

Alec let a surprised gasp leak from his lips. In that instant, everyone- every creature within the room seemed to stop what they were doing. They stared at Alec as if he were a piece of choice meat. He choked and let the cry stick in his throat. A blooming swell of fear licked at his insides, much similar to a blazing inferno, and he began frantically kicking at the ground, trying desperately to scoot away from their beady alien eyes. Their stares felt invasive, as if they were violating every inch of him. No matter how much he tried to gain leverage, the creatures holding him from behind felt like a brick wall.

They were monsters- all of them.

Some had curling tapered horns protruding from their gleaming foreheads, and some had iridescent gossamer wings sprouting from their backs. As he continued to survey the gruesome crowd, he noted in alarm that there were creatures far more terrifying than beings with wings and horns. With dread, he studied a tall, skeletal creature that loped about the center of the crowd, standing gangly and naked, flesh tinged with blotches of vermilion- the color of dried blood, he realized. It had an eerie, watery grin stretched across its withered and shriveled face, revealing a row of serrated teeth, each stained a horrific shade of pink.

Yet, where there was ugliness, there was also beauty. There were men and women, or what appeared to be men and women, who stood out from the crowd. They smiled coyly at him, tight lipped smiles spanning the width of their pale-as-milk faces. One woman draped in a velvet ebony cloak fluttered thick dark lashes at him, the feral point of a fang darting from her rouge coated lips. Red hair cascaded down her shoulders in tightly wound ringlets, framing her pallid face like fire.

They looked human, these beautiful people, but Alec could sense they were not; everything about these creatures spelled danger. He didn't like the way there were staring at him. He wanted to thrash and scream and kick away; he needed to get away and pretend this never happened. This was a dream- someone must have slipped him some PCP back at the club. He was delusional, that's all.

"Let me go, let me go!" he cried, thrashing his arms and legs. These things terrified him. He always used to catch glimpses of them when he was younger, but to see them up so close and so...unrestricted, he felt like shielding his eyes and curling himself into a tiny, pathetic ball. He didn't want to get sliced and eaten by these things.

"Scared, mundy?" the winged female holding him leaned in, whispering thickly in his ear. He could feel her balmy breath against his flushed face, and he cringed. He didn't want her near him. "I can smell it on you."

She chuckled and drew away from him, squeezing his shoulder. She turned to her pink skinned partner and nodded her head, brushing clumped strands of violet hair from her face.

"Hey, a mundane!"

"Toss 'em to me, Erlina!"

"I could use a new subjugate~ ."

Voices clipped and oozed from the throng of motley creatures, some of their voices garbled and indecipherable, some thick and heady and dripping with malicious intent. Alec tore his eyes away from them and tried to focus on something else. If he kept looking at them and their haunting faces, he'd panic and do something reckless, like collapse for instance.

The pounding rhythm and hypnotic melodies smothered him in a way that felt stifling. The atmosphere inside the room was humid and heady, and the grating scent of citrus and spice clogged his nose way. It was louder in here, ten times louder than from outside, and the music seemed to encase him completely. Glitter and multi-colored plumes of smoke fanned across him as he was held aloft, the claws in his shoulders nearly ripping into his skin. He could feel the sharp points of the creatures' talons gouge into his flesh, tearing through his sweater. He suddenly felt too warm, so dreadfully warm.

"So then, what shall we do with you?"

The hair on the nape of Alec's neck rose, his body shuddering as the pink monster to his left leaned towards him, resting its chapped lips along his ear. Alec felt something thin and wet glide along his throat, and he blanched when he realized that it had been the creature's tongue- the beast had licked him. He wanted to squirm away and vomit the contents of his stomach.

"Let me go, please let me go," Alec pleaded frantically, turning his head to look back at his captors. The female, Erlina he guessed, blinked her insectile eyes, shaking her head mockingly. She smiled at Alec, twirling the tapered end of a dreadlock around a slender finger.

"Tsk, tsk, no little one," she chided, cooing at him. Alec flinched. "That, I simply cannot do. You lot are far too curious, mundies should know their place." Erlina turned to her partner. "What should we do with him, Ikor? Kill him or keep him?"

The pink monster, Ikor, shook his head and ran a clawed finger down Alec's cheek. "That is not our jurisdiction. You know they all go to Magnus first, he'll decide."

Erlina nodded and pushed at the small of Alec's back. The teen stumbled forward, nearly diving head first into the crowd.

"Magnus it is," she affirmed airily.

Alec hurriedly righted himself and stood before the mass of creatures, suddenly feeling very naked without Erlina and Ikor holding him back. He instinctively reached for the switch blade in his sweater pocket, fingering the blunt side of the blade. If any one of those beasts neared him, all he'd have to do was yank it out and start slashing.

As if bored, some of the creatures merely turned away from him and continued dancing and chatting with one another, but he noticed with fear that the creatures whose eyes lingered on him the longest belonged to the men and women with the pale faces.

"Move along, mundane," Erlina barked from behind him. She prodded at his back with her claws, hurriedly ushering him forward. He accidentally bumped forth into a group of scaly skinned humanoid beings that snarled and glared at him, sniffing in disgust.

With Erlina (Ikor must have stayed behind) pushing behind him, Alec hastily tried to gain his footing and surged through the crowd, haphazardly brushing by creatures who only growled at him in disdain. He halted when a tall strapping man with perfectly coiffed hair the color of gold, blocked his way.

The man was slender and broad shouldered. Spidery blue veins ran along the sides of his pallid narrow face and branched off just underneath his eyes. His eyes were tinged grey, a grey so diluted they seemed almost white, and when the stranger smiled, canines sharpened to a fine point gleamed at Alec.

"Greetings Erlina, it seems you've caught yourself a delectable looking morsel," the man breathed, his voice thick and low, as smooth as silk. Alec back-tracked from the looming man, goose bumps trailing up his arms. This stranger seemed entirely too predatory; the way he carried himself, the way his grey eyes narrowed ruefully. The word vampire screamed through Alec's head, and his breath hitched. "He's quite fetching for a mundane. Has he been contracted?"

Erlina sniggered and raised a brow, her wings softly fluttering behind her. "Don't get any thoughts. This one hasn't visited Magnus yet."

The stranger only grinned, mock disappointment flashing across his eyes. "It'll be a rather short visit then. What a waste. Bane has no tolerance for wandering mundanes."

Oh, Alec did not like the sound of that. He stared up at the man, terror washing over him. He couldn't possibly be implying..? No, no, no. That was so not going to happen. He hadn't done anything to them. Okay, he might have crashed their strictly demon party, but that didn't call for slaughter, did it? He should have just stayed across the street and minded his own business. He wasn't going to be a rebel ever again. He'd listen to Izzy and go wherever she wanted to go and he wouldn't complain, because anything- anything was better than this horrible place. He didn't want to become demon fodder for these freaks.

It was a knee-jerk reaction- Alec yanked his shoulder from Erlina's tight grip, prying himself away from her claws. Her hold on him momentarily loosened, but before he could even move away, he felt a terrible pain stab at the line of his neck- the pale faced man had pricked him with the sharp point of his nail. Alec hadn't even noticed him move his hand.

He could feel the warm trickle of blood slide along his throat. He tried to ignore the way the man's eyes smoldered, a pink tongue running over sharp canines. This being that looked so much like a regular human, was a vampire, he remembered. Vampires weren't supposed to be real, nor were fairies and demons and horned creatures that looked more like deranged goats than anything else. He needed to get out of here, he needed to get home, he needed Isabelle- his phone! He could always call her! But how was he supposed to do that without drawing suspicion? It's not like he could sneak away...

He felt Erlina wrap her tawny fingers around the curve of his shoulder, her thumb gently wiping at the blood on his throat. "We don't need to cause a scene now," she whispered in his ear, her plump lips grazing his lobe. She peered down at him through thick green lashes.

"I bet you have a phone on you," she murmured. She slowly crept her hand down his body, pushing her fingers inside the back pocket of his jeans. Alec flushed and flinched, much to the amusement of the man who was gazing hungrily at Alec.

Erlina withdrew with Alec's cellphone. She slid it open, back and forth, back and forth, toying with the sleek device in her hands.

"I don't know what's so special about these gawdy things," she scoffed, flicking a sharp blue nail along the screen. Alec cried out when she continued to toy with it, her nails leaving minute scratches along the phone's surface. He needed that phone- it was his only life line. He could call the police, or even better, Isabelle, because the police would never believe him. All he needed to do was call Izzy. He would give her directions and tell her to come pick him up right away and save him from this frightening place, even though he was the eldest and it was supposed to be the other way around. His sister always seemed so regal and strong, and how he wished she was here by his side. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why did he ever leave her?

"You won't be needing this anymore," Erlina concluded, and right as she was about to wrap her fingers around the phone, intending to crush it, Alec let out a shriek and whisked the blade from his pocket, flicking it open with a slide of his thumb. Letting his mind drift, Alec lashed out and slashed at Erlina's wrist. Blood gushed from the deep laceration in a flurry of shredded tendons and ruptured veins, scarlet droplets sprinkling the floor like grains of granite.

'Oh no, I did it too hard,' he thought with dread. Erlina let out a piercing scream and effectively dropped the phone, the device thudding to the floor. Ignoring the metallic, briny smell of her blood, Alec ducked down and frantically grabbed at his phone, shoving it into his pocket.

Without any hesitation, he darted through the crowd, leaving behind an angry, shrieking Erlina who was cursing and hissing at the top of her lungs. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He cut someone! What if she called the police on him, or sent a bunch of her demon cronies after him? What if she pressed charges and they ended up sending him to juvenile hall?

He felt claws and hands grab at his clothes and pull at his hair, twisting his sweater and catching hold of his pants, but with a force he never knew he possessed, Alec harshly twisted away and stumbled through the crowd, the soles of his shoes slapping against the floor.

She had been about to break his phone; the only way out of this literal hell hole. She wasn't human, he chanted, she was a beast, a beast. They wanted to kill me, I had every right to cut her.

He could feel his heart thrashing against his chest, sweat dribbling down his temples as he swerved and rounded through the crowd. It seemed the doom and gloom of the building was working to his advantage. The music drowned out Erlina's shrieks as he quickly grew lost to the darkness of the dance floor. Rainbow smoke and the fast clip of strobe lights mottled his vision, and he began hacking and coughing, glitter catching in his throat. He squinted his eyes and peered across the room, noticing a long stretch of stairs that stood stark against the haze. Hurrying his pace, he pushed through the remaining horde of monsters and broke away from the writhing mass, wheezing and breathing hard through his nose.

He hastily darted to the base of the stairs and quickly took the steps two at a time. Once or twice he slipped and banged his knee against the sharp edge of the stairs, and oh God it was painful, so painful, but he grit his teeth and went on, his fingers sliding along the splintered banister for support. When he finally made it to the top, he drew his hand away from the wooden railing and nearly cried out.

Dangling on his right arm were tiny wooden creatures* composed of sticks and leaves, like miniature dolls. They stared up at him with beady black eyes, twirling and prancing along his arm showfully. Alec yelped and quickly shook himself free of the tiny things, scuttling away from the stairs until his back pressed flat against a wall. He didn't know what the heck those things were- they weren't walking sticks, or anything even close to resembling insects.

The music only seemed to get louder. Alec spun around and noted with dread that the entire floor was crammed with even more creatures that danced and waded through the dim candle light, strobe lights and twinkling disco balls twirling from the ceiling. Alec reared back and ducked behind a table topped with an assortment of odd looking food trays and plastic cups filled with a neon green liquid* that literally glowed.

He was starting to wonder if every floor had a party on it. The only way to find out was to head up. Hopefully, if he came across a secluded area, he could hide out there and wait for the party to dissipate, either that or call Isabelle.

This time, no creature noticed him. Taking a deep breath, Alec scuttled away from the protection of the table and gently ebbed through the crowd, occasionally bumping into a pair of bat like wings or knocking his head against a spindly horn.

He watched with his mouth agape as a slight violet skinned girl with almond eyes and a pair of thin filmy wings guzzled down cup after cup of the neon green beverage, the liquid gurgling from her pursed mouth and trailing down her chin like spittle. She looked like a deranged Tinkerbell. The pixie-thing caught sight of him and chucked the cup away, wriggling her jointed fingers at him as he rushed by. She hiccuped and dropped slack to the floor.

Shivering at the sight of her limp body, Alec quickly coasted the premise and found his destination a little ways away: the stairs. If he could make it all the way up to the fifth floor without anyone catching him, he could find someplace to hide out and call Isabelle. No one would actually hold a party all the way up on the fifth level, right? All he had to do was get upstairs.

After a few minutes of carefully maneuvering through the dancing crowd, Alec finally made it to the stairs and made to scale them, before he halted in his tracks. There were two entwined bodies huddled along the middle of the staircase. Alec saw they were the pale faced creatures, vampires, though the younger one didn't seem as pallid as the one beneath him. The youngest looked to be about 15 or 16, with a head full of dusty brown hair and skin still a light peach color, a color that was fast being turned pale. The boy was sitting atop the other's lap, lithe legs wrapped around the older man's waist. The eldest seemed to be around his early 20s, and both his taloned hands were cupping the boy's cherubic face, occasionally kissing and nipping along the teen's bruised throat. Alec watched with increasing horror as the man kissed hungrily at the boy's parted lips, their tongues darting in and out of each others' mouths as the youth gently rocked his hips back and forth atop the other's lap.

Alec quietly stepped past them, all the while thinking, pedo, the man's a pedo!

"No way, no way," he mumbled under his breath. The scene was vulgar as it was lewd, and by the time he reached the top of the stairs, his heart was still racing and his face was flushed an embarrassing shade of pink. These things! What the heck was wrong with them?

'Who does that?' he wondered bemusedly. Calming himself, Alec peered through his black shaggy bangs. As he guessed, there was another party taking place on the this floor as well, the third floor, and this one seemed even louder than the rest. Did each level progressively get more obnoxious?

He could barely see through the scented smoke that permeated the air like wispy clouds. The dancing seemed slower here, more languid and surreal, as though wading through time. With his resolve steadily building, Alec pushed his way through the crowd with vigor, intent on reaching his destination, even if he had no clue where it was exactly. He couldn't head back down to the first floor, not with Erlina or possibly even Ikor after him. Alec's ebony hair was tussled and mussed about his face. His clothes clung to him like spandex- he didn't realize how stuffy it had gotten.

Bracing himself, he waded through the crowd, spotting a spindly staircase across the room, but before he could even move, he glanced at the surrounding walls and found the crowd had thinned. Pushing his way past a squat looking toad thing, Alec made for the wall and pressed himself flat against it. He moved along the wall, the hem of his jacket catching on rusty nails and chipped paint. He subconsciously sputtered an apology when he accidentally tripped over someone's foot.

The boot-clad foot belonged to a scrawny boy who was sitting slumped against the wall, cloudy brown eyes staring into space. His dirty blond hair was shaved on the sides and spiked into a mohawk in the center, and his clothes were ripped and tattered and hanging crookedly off his body- Alec supposed that was the style. The boy looked human, far more human than all the creatures here. The teenager giggled and laughed, swaying his body side to side as he flicked his wrists and twirled his fingers. Alec gasped when something snapped and crackled, and a cloud of smoke exploded into existence, a misty film hovering over the boy's awaiting hands. A fur lined coat dropped down into his arms from out of nowhere.

As if barely realizing that Alec was standing right in front of him, the boy looked up and hugged the coat to his chest, flashing him a toothy smile. "Would you like to try some?"

"Try what?" Alec asked warily, nervously fidgeting in place.

"Nevermore*," the boy breathed, pressing the fur to his nose. He breathed deeply and leaned back against the wall, eyes fluttering shut. "I can give ya' some for a price. Only the best!"

Alec grimaced and trotted away, the boy laughing hysterically behind him. Trudging along the walls, Alec finally made it to the staircase and scaled them, his chest heaving by the time he made it to the next floor.

He was on the fourth level now. Music pounded from somewhere Alec still could not place, and the creatures here seemed more tame in appearance than the ones downstairs. Most had human-like qualities, but there was always some sort of flaw that skewered their impersonations. Some had pointed ears and pupiless eyes, and others merely had strange colored hair that shimmered and glittered like diamonds.

Despite how human these people looked, Alec had to remind himself that these beings were in fact not human, but something otherworldly. Shaking himself from his reverie, Alec merged with the crowd, growing confident as he shimmied past a tall willowy woman with hair the color of snow. She didn't bat an eye at him, but this time, some of the others noticed. One girl around his age smiled flirtatiously at him, beckoning him over with one slender finger. Staring into her honey eyes, Alec could feel something pull at him, as if strings were attached to his body and she was merely the puppeteer that guided him forward.

Alec shut his eyes and thought about Isabelle. He thought about the phone in his pocket and the switchblade still clasped in his hand, stained with Erlina's blood. He only had one more floor to plunge. He'd call Isabelle and tell her to send for their parents, and they'd pick him up and scold him for wandering off on his own, and he wouldn't do anything but listen to them and reassure them that it would never, ever happen again.

Alec cut through the mob like a knife, disentangling himself from the metaphysical threads the girl had spun. He didn't notice the affronted look that crossed her face.

He made it to the bottom of the steps, heaving and panting as he trudged up the staircase, holding tightly at the banister beside him. Alec immediately halted, his foot hovering above the steps. He looked up and saw that the staircase seemed longer this time around. It stretched and stretched into a distance unfathomable, and all Alec could see was a pitch black void at its peak. Ignoring the well of fear inside him, he trudged onward, fingering the blade in his hand. It seemed like he had trekked for hours on end by the time he reached the top.

Funny. There was a door at the top, devoid of open space unlike the lower levels. Alec stood before the rickety wooden door, the wood dyed a pastel blue. He was bathed in a darkness that made it impossible for him to decipher what was scrawled along the gold plaque bolted to the door's center. Allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness, Alec leaned forward and squinted his eyes, mouthing a singular word: Magnus.

That name. His captors had both mentioned it before; he was beginning to wonder if this Magnus person happened to be scarier than the rest. They certainly put the guy on a high pedestal, the way they talked about him. Ikor mentioned that they didn't have any jurisdiction over him, whatever that meant, so did that mean Magnus did? Did they need to get this guy's approval first before eating him? And who was Bane?

Looking behind him, Alec shakily took a breath and placed a trembling hand on the brass doorknob, its smooth surface cool to the touch. Gulping, he gently turned the knob, and to his luck, the door opened. He pushed it forward, a raspy moan screeching from the door's hinges.

Wincing at the loud noise, Alec stared into a narrow corridor that spanned the length of the entire floor, a row of doors flanking the walls on either side. There were nine doors all together, four on each of the walls lining the hallway and one in the center at the very end. Shuddering, Alec quickly stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

It locked with a click.

Alec whirled around and yanked at the doorknob, willing it to turn, but it didn't. He pulled and twisted the knob, jerking the handle, yet still it wouldn't budge. He backed away from the door, his thumb roving over the dull side of the switch blade. He held it steady in his hand, the knife ice cold against his wrist. Something was off about this place; the corridor seemed too narrow and dark, too spooky, Alec thought with a shiver. It was his worst nightmare come to life.

"Wait," he breathed. He coasted the area, cobalt eyes scanning the shadowed area. The corridor seemed to be relatively deserted. Empty plastic cups littered the sides of the hallway, neon fluid smeared in green streaks across the floor. Alec hurriedly pulled out his phone and slid it open, hitting speed dial. He pressed the device to his ear and waited with bated breath for it to ring.

It never rang.

Grunting in frustration, Alec pulled the phone away and stared down at the illuminated screen- there was absolutely no signal whatsoever. Dumbfounded, Alec tried dialing his sister's number once more, and then his parents, but neither of the calls went through.

"Jesus!" Alec cursed through gritted teeth. He slid the phone shut and stuffed it in his jean pocket. He paced back and forth, his fingers trembling at his sides.

The phone didn't work; it had been his only plan of escape and already it was deemed a failure. This never happened before! His cell had great signal coverage...most of the time! There had to be some sort of strong interference in the building.

'_It's those things_,' he thought angrily, thinking of their lanky bodies and sharp pointed teeth. Now he really needed to get out of here. He couldn't even see a means of escape on this level. There were absolutely no windows here.

His eyes widened. He wasn't completely hopeless, at least, not yet. If he couldn't use his phone, then he'd just have to find an exit. Two words came to mind: fire escape. Many old abandoned buildings like this one usually came equipped with fire escapes, even though people hardly used them anymore.

Alec slumped his shoulders, his throat tightening. If he ever wanted to leave this place unscathed, he'd have to look through every single door on this level and furthermore risk getting caught. Images flooded past his vision, images of scaly hands clawing at his body, of venomous fangs sinking into his neck and bleeding him dry. He didn't want those things near him, whatever they were.

Erlina said something about killing him, and that blond pale man had said something about a contract. What the heck were they talking about? Did these things actually conduct business deals or something? He didn't see how they could though, not when they looked like that.

Nevertheless, he knew one thing: every single creature in this building intended to end his life in some way or another.

Alec backed away, nearly dropping the switch blade in his haste. His legs suddenly felt like lead, his head lolling about his shoulders as his eyes nearly rolled back into his head. He didn't want to die. His parents would be devastated, Izzy would be a depressed wreck, and no- he couldn't die, he wouldn't die. Alec felt his legs tremble, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. Those beasts weren't going to touch him, and in order to keep himself from meeting an untimely end, he was going to have to look for an exit, and that meant searching through those doors.

But he couldn't do that; he couldn't just prance down the hallway barging through rooms that weren't his own. He didn't know where they led to and he'd be intruding- he already was. If demons were partying downstairs, then surely there'd be more of them behind those closed doors.

His knife at the ready, Alec cautiously took a step forward. As soon as his foot hit the floor, the atmosphere seemed to flicker and waver, and a gust of wind curled around him, caressing his face and tangling the ends of his hair. As fast as it had come, it left, leaving Alec breathless against the door, the blade of his knife parallel to his wrist. In the next instant, one by one on each side of the hall, candles flickered to life, their bright orange light adding a layer of luminescence to the otherwise dim corridor.

The last of the candles ended at the far end of the hall, right before the lone door that stood there. The wick glowed brighter there, illuminating the upper half of the door and shadowing the lower. With orange light clipping across his face, Alec slowly pried himself from the door, holding his blade aloft, his fingers quaking around the hilt.

He didn't know what force was behind the candles, and for once he didn't particularly care. With dread he realized that he was starting to get used to the strange phenomena in the building. Demons and faerie things were one thing, candles that magically flamed to life were nothing compared to the beasts downstairs, even though the whole prospect was spooky. Scratch that, everything about this darned party was eerie. It just made him even more eager to escape this place with his life intact.

With hesitant, measured steps, Alec tiptoed forward, frantically scanning the walls on either side of him. He was afraid something might pop out and smother him. What if the flames from the candles jumped out and set him alight? He'd attract unwanted attention, and instead of killing him with their teeth, they'd watch him burn alive.

'_You're scaring yourself, stop it_,' he chided himself. '_Now, which door, left or right?_'

Picking the first door on the right, Alec quickly scrambled in front of it. He stared down at the knob, spotting his disheveled reflection on its rusted surface. Even more holes dotted his already disintegrated sweater. Isabelle would reprimand him yet again on the importance of fashion and appearance and insist on taking him shopping. Even spending a day in Bloomingdale's with his materialistic sister sounded wonderful to him right about now.

'_Suck it up Alec, just turn it_,' he encouraged himself, although the voice in his head sounded feeble. Hitching his breath, Alec shakily placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it. It didn't budge; the door was locked.

It was a bittersweet feeling. For one, he felt relieved that he didn't have to go through with it, and on the other hand, he was probably passing up an opportune moment. Surely not all the doors were locked, right?

One by one, Alec trudged down the corridor, trying every door he walked by, but each knob came away locked. Cursing under his breath, Alec finally managed to make it all the way down the corridor. Now he stood fuming before the ninth door- the last one. He stared at it, eyes roaming over the polished copper placard embedded in the center. This time it read, Bane.

'_Weird, I thought this was Magnus'..._'

Alec's thoughts trailed away at the sound of muffled voices. Bemused, he found they were coming from behind the very door he was standing in front of. They were soft whispered noises that lilted and tapered into guttural moans...of pain? That was pain wasn't it? Entranced, Alec stepped closer and pressed his ear to the door.

"Ah, ahh, ahhh."

It sounded like a male's voice. Was he in trouble or something, or possibly hurting? What if the guy happened to be human and those creatures were mutilating and torturing him on the other side? Oh God- he couldn't just...just leave him there. To be gruesomely murdered by those monsters, Alec wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"What do I do, what do I do?" he whispered to himself, his hand tightening around the blade. He didn't want to be a hero; he was never one for the limelight, always melding into the background and living life generally unnoticed. Going through this door was a suicide mission, yet somehow, that didn't bother him as much as it should have. He was a practical person and was often reserved and pessimistic from time to time, but he had a conscience, and right now it was telling him to do something.

And yet fate seemed to throw him a curve-ball. The candle light suddenly dimmed, bathing Alec in perpetual shadow, then as quick as it had come, the light bounced back and roared full force. The closest candle near Alec practically radiated a heat so scalding that he had to shuffle away from its penetrating warmth. He could hear the soft drip of melted wax plopping to the floor in rapid succession.

He let a chaste cry escape his throat as the knob in front of him suddenly rattled harshly, nearly unscrewing the bolts that held it in place, and then...it unlocked. The resounding click echoed about the hallway.

It was quiet now, so deafeningly quiet. The voices behind the door had stopped, and even the crackling candle flames were lost to the impenetrable silence. It felt strangely empty, Alec thought with alarm, taking a wary step back.

Before he could get any farther the door opened, spilling forth a cascade of light and glitter that nearly blinded him. That citrus scent was back again, stronger than ever, enveloping his body in an aromatic cocoon until he could practically feel it burning down his throat. He nearly choked.

"Well, what have we here?"

* * *

**Chapter Notes:**

***tiny wooden creatures- bhata, otherwise known as tree sprites. They're composed of twigs and sticks, and are very mischievous but relatively harmless little things. Credit goes to the novel The Tree Shepherd's Daughter by Gillian Summers.  
*neon green liquid- Absinthe, affectionately called The Green Fairy. A strong alcoholic drink. I thought it fit nicely given the nature of this chapter.  
*Never- known as Nevermore to humans. A highly addicting drug that can temporarily grant humans the ability to use magic when taken. In this fic, Downworlders use it to enhance glamour and their own respective magic. Credit for this drug goes to ****Holly Black****, specifically from her novel ****Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie****.  
**  
**Tweekerz Says:  
- Yes, I'm a douche. -squirt-  
- So there we have it. I really wasn't going to update this story, but after rereading Clockwork Angel again, my juices started flowing, and no, not those juices...nasty.  
- I still can't believe this pairing is canon.  
- Reviews make the world go round, at least mine.**


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